How is it that she spent seven years knowing Kurt without ever meeting his gorgeous, adorable step-brother? From the second he walked in the door she couldn't take her eyes off of the tall, strikingly handsome young actor. And now as it dawns on her that he will be living with them for the indefinite future her main goal is to get to know him as much as she can. She knows that he probably isn't in the best place right now, but she's determined to make him feel as comfortable and at ease as possible, in retrospect yelling at him probably wasn't the best way to go about it, but he didn't seem particularly fazed by it, in fact as hard is it is to believe, he seemed to like her a little bit. And then it hits her, he's the first person in years to approach her without that look, that look of sympathy that she hates. He can't see her face so there's nothing for him to feel sorry about. She hates to find any kind of advantage from Finn's injury, and the truth is her heart breaks for him, to lose something so valuable must be the hardest thing, still, it's a relief to have someone treat her normally for once.
He argued for what seemed like an eternity with Kurt over who would take the pull-out and who would sleep in his room. In the end Finn convinced Kurt to let him take the pull-out because he was more used to a firmer mattress, considering how early she wakes up every morning she'll probably be treated to a view of his sleeping form on a daily basis. She wonders if he sleeps shirtless, and if the fact that she hasn't had sex in over three years has anything to do with the fact that she wonders if he sleeps shirtless. It's not as if she plans on trying anything, because while Finn might not be able to see her, other people still could, how long before someone told him what she looked like and he went from nice guy who seemed to sort of like her to nice guy who still sort of liked her but would never dream of dating her? And if he got his sight back the way Kurt said he might, her hopes would be dashed even further. Add that to the fact that she's been out of the game so long the very idea of dating again gives her hives.
Her last date had been with an internet reporter a woman from her synagogue set her up with, Jacob something or other. He certainly wasn't the most attractive man on the planet, with his bad hair and bulbous nose and gapped teeth, but if having to have her face sewn back together after her accident taught her one thing, it was not to judge based on appearances. No, it was his disgusting behavior throughout that put her off dating, she was surprised that she even continued the date when he greeted her with the statement "good thing I like it with the lights off," she chalked it up to him being nervous and making a poor attempt to be funny, no it wasn't until he asked if she had ever been involved in a threesome that she bolted to the bathroom, never to be seen again.
But it isn't just her aversion to dating that will keep her from making a move on Finn, she knows that he's here to recover, nothing more, and if she can help him do that in any way she will consider it time well spent. Right now as she cooks dinner she watches with a warm smile as Kurt leads Finn through the small apartment, helping him to memorize the layout and the furniture placement, they've been at it awhile and she likes watching them navigate the apartment, even if it does make her flinch a little whenever he knocks into something, but she has a feeling this boy was rather clumsy before he lost his eyesight.
"Okay, how about we take a little break," Kurt says. "The best way to commit anything to memory is by doing things in intervals."
Finn nods once as Kurt hands him his cane.
"So, what's for dinner?" Finn says. "Smells awesome."
"Well, I was told you liked lasagna so I decided to whip up some, you know as a welcoming gesture."
"Shut up really?" he says with the excitement of a child, and it makes her smile a little.
"Don't get too excited it's probably of the veggie variety," Kurt says approaching the stove and looking into Rachel's frying pan. "Nope, real meat. Wow, you aim to please Rachel Berry."
"I can't remember the last time I've had a home cooked meal," Finn says. "Well one I didn't make myself."
"You cook?" Rachel says, impressed.
"A little," Finn says, shrugging. "I don't think I could pull off lasagna though, spaghetti is more my speed."
"Sure you can, it's easy, I could teach you if you'd like," Rachel says. "That way you can also learn your way around our kitchen."
"Um sure, okay, that sounds nice actually," Finn says with a smile. And he stands up at that point to join Rachel in the kitchen.
"Finn watch out!" Kurt says as he trips over the chair in front of him. Rachel turns, startled to see his tall, broad frame falling toward her tiny one. She drops her spoon in enough time to stop him from colliding into her, grabbing him by the waist and helping him find his footing, but she isn't fast enough to stop his hands from accidentally ending up in a very private place.
"Oh god Rachel, I'm so sorry," he says. And with him this close to her she can see all of the tiny interesting details in his face, the peppering of freckles over the bridge of his nose and his cheeks, the rich amber color of his unfocused eyes, his layer of stubble, his nervous smile… the fact that his hands are still firmly planted on her breasts.
"Um Finn," Kurt says. "If you're done rounding second base with my roommate here's your cane."
At Kurt's words he snatches his hands away like they've been burned, and Rachel can't help but blush a little, he has strong hands this one.
"Again, really sorry," he says frantically.
"It's alright Finn," she says, straightening her blouse. "Now if you'll grab me three tomatoes out of the bowl on the counter we can get started."
"Okay," he says, exhaling sharply and grabbing his cane from Kurt.. "Tomatoes." She watches intently as he goes for the counter, luckily the space is small so he reaches it without trouble, she remains silent and continues to watch as he feels for the tomatoes, his strong, fine hands navigating their way over the fruit basket, the cookie jar, the spice rack, and finally the bowl of tomatoes and avocados. She smiles brightly once he finds them and lets out a little squeal when he picks them up.
"Yay," She beams. "Great job Finn."
"Yeah buddy you did it," Kurt says.
"Well I had to redeem myself after tripping on the chair," Finn says sheepishly.
"Okay, I'm going to take the tomatoes from you now," Rachel says, taking them, her hands tingling a bit at the touch of his.
"You know you don't have to warn Finn every time you touch him," Kurt says.
"No actually I appreciate it," Finn says, giving her a sweet half smile and, she blushes again as she notices the dimples in his cheeks, and she doesn't know why because it's not like he can see her or anything but she fluffs her hair a little and combs her bangs down over her partially closed eye. It really wasn't fair for him to be this attractive.
As they eat their first meal together that night, Rachel tries hard not to stare, she knows he can't see her doing it, but Kurt can, and he was bound to comment on it. Especially the way she can't keep her eyes off his mouth, it's such a nice mouth, very kissable looking, and she looks down then because she's been staring at it for at least five seconds.
"So, Finn," she says, clearing her throat. "What spawned your interest in Shakespeare? I don't know a lot of American men who have even heard of anything beyond Romeo and Juliet."
"You know, I guess I've just always thought he was really great you know, his writing it's always something I've been really inspired by."
Rachel can't help but notice the way Kurt chuckles at Finn's comment, and she can tell that Finn would be shooting him a look right now if he could.
"Something on your mind Kurt?" Finn says hostilely.
"Listen we're all friends here, you can tell her the truth," Kurt says.
Finn deflates a little in defeat. "Fine, I was going to fail English unless I passed the final on Twelfth Night so I got a tutor, who just happened to be…"
"Aesthetically pleasing?" Rachel asks amusedly.
"I was going to say hot but I like your wording better," Finn says. "But it was more than that, I mean. she was cool and smart and funny."
"And way too old for you," Kurt says. "What was she like forty?"
"Ms. Holliday looked great for her age thank you very much," Finn argues. "Anyway, I wanted to impress her so I kind of went out for a role in the Allen County community theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream."
"And he surprised the hell out of everyone by getting cast as Lysander," Kurt adds.
"Oh my god, you got the lead?" Rachel says, surprised.
"Which he was brilliant in," Kurt interjects
"I wouldn't say brilliant," Finn says modestly.
"Oh please you were brilliant and you know it," Kurt says.
"Anyway I didn't get the girl but I did kind of accidentally find my calling," Finn says, shrugging.
"Nice trade," Rachel says.
"So what about you? What made you want to become a voice actor?" Finn asks. "Besides your awesome voice that is."
"I actually didn't," Rachel admits, blushing at his compliment. "I wanted to act on Broadway, it's why I came here."
"What happened with that?" Finn asks. "If you don't mind my asking."
She looks at Kurt then, with a look that says should I tell him the truth? He gives her a nod and an encouraging smile and she looks at Finn again, ready to tell him about the car wreck that ripped half of her face away and required two surgeries to leave her looking even as good as she did. But somehow she can't bring herself to tell him the truth, she likes this guy, he's the first guy she's liked in a really long time, and the last thing she wants is her face standing in the way of their refreshingly normal dynamic, not when it doesn't have to."
"Well, you know, breaking into Broadway just isn't as easy as it used to be, not that it was ever easy in the first place. It was either do the show or live on the streets." It was so far from the truth that she felt genuinely horrible even saying it. The truth was her prospects on the Broadway stage were promising before the accident, she'd never had a lead role, but she'd gotten praise for her supporting turns in a few plays, in fact she was offered the Imaginationville job from a producer who sat in the audience of one of her last shows. She's happy that Kurt doesn't say anything, he may not have been able to keep his mouth shut half the time but at least he knew to hold his tongue when it counted.
"That's kind of strange," Finn says.
"What's strange?" Rachel asks.
"It's just whenever I hear you on that show you just sound like you're in love with what you're doing. Especially when you sing," Finn explains.
"I do love it," Rachel says truthfully. "It just isn't what I expected to be doing at this point in my life, just like you didn't expect to be performing the lead in Midsummer Night's Dream back in high school."
"That's definitely true," Finn says. "Before I found out I kind of loved Shakespeare I was all about sports and my band."
"You were in a band?" Rachel says. "What did you play?"
"Drums," Finn says. "I also sing a little bit too, it's how I got the part of the singer in Romeo and Juliet my first year in England, I'm nowhere near as good as you though."
"Big Mistake Finn, she's totally going to make you sing What is a Youth? now," Kurt says.
"Kurt, you're such a pain sometimes," Rachel says. "Although he is right, I thoroughly expect you to sing What is a Youth?"
"Right now?" Finn says, perplexed.
"Impromptu musical performances are kind of a big thing for me," Rachel says, dead serious.
"Um, okay, Do I have to stand?"
"That would be preferable, yes" Rachel says, her voice and expression still serious, and at that he stands, and Rachel does an inward happy dance because she loves it when people sing for her, almost as much as she loves singing for other people.
What is a youth? Impetuous fire/What is a maid? Ice and desire/The world wags on/A rose will bloom It then will fade/So does a youth/So do-o-o-oes the fairest maid.
As he sings she notices that his voice is rougher, manlier and dare she say it, sexier than she would expect the singer from Romeo and Juliet to have, but somehow it works, in fact there's something quietly beautiful and vulnerable in it too, she can see immediately why he got the part, because the sound of his voice is so infectious it makes her want to stand up and join in, she only hopes that he doesn't think she's trying to steal his thunder, but he only smiles a little and continues to sing as she sings along, and even more so once he realizes how beautifully their voices blend together. Singing with him feels natural yet exhilarating at the same time, like she's been doing it for years but it somehow still feels new.
Comes a time when one sweet smile Has its season for a while/Then love's in love with me/Some they think only to marry/Others will tease and tarry/Mine is the very best parry/Cupid he rules us all.
Caper the cape, but sing me the song/Death will come soon to hush us along/Sweeter than honey and bitter as gall/Love is a task and it never will pall/Sweeter than honey...and bitter as gall/Cupid he rules us all
As they finish They are both startled by the sound of Kurt clapping, because to be honest, Rachel completely forgot that he was there and Finn clearly did to.
"Wow, that was amazing," Kurt says.
"I know," Rachel says quietly, wide eyed as she looks up at Finn, her heart suddenly beating harder in her chest.
"Yeah," Finn agrees with a soft smile. "Your voice is just… I mean I knew you could sing but wow."
"Yeah, yours too," Rachel agrees, reaching for her hair the way she always does when she's nervous.
"That song wasn't meant to be sung as a duet but still, well done." Kurt says, and they don't respond because Rachel is still looking at Finn, and wondering if he wants to be looking at her too.
"I'm not even here am I?" Kurt says after a lingering silence.
Rachel thinks this not trying anything with Finn thing may be more complicated than she thought.
Stay Tuned Folks!